/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>43959169
We spent the next few days settling into our new home and life when we heard news of Mother. It must have taken a few days for her to realize we weren’t coming back, but once she did the rumors spread fast. Soon everyone knew that the shrine maiden had wrecked up her shrine in a rage, yelled at visitors and stormed into the village demeaning to know where her family was before being convinced to leave. I was doing my best to ignore all of this when I heard the knock on my door

After a moment’s hesitation to ready myself in case it was her, I opened it to see a woman with short black hair dressed in a jacket and a cap. She was holding up a small basket of food. She flashed me a smile. “Ah, hello there, I brought you two a house-warming gift, so could I come in and ask a few questions?” I shut the door. The last thing I wanted was to talk about my mother and have details about us plastered all over the Bunbunmaru. A few seconds passed, and the knocking resumed. “I’ll just stick around then until you change your mind” she said from the other side of the door. I guess there was no beating her stubbornness, so I opened the door again and waved her inside. Aya found a seat and sat down, giving a curt nod to Dad as he came in wondering who had visited. Taking some time to place down the basket and prepare her notepad and camera, she turns towards me. “I’m sure you’ve heard the news about your mother by now. What caused your move to the village?” She leaned forward expectantly, pen and notepad at the ready.


I didn’t want to give up any details to her, as it could only make things worse. “I was old enough to live on my own, so I moved. Everyone knows what goes on in the shrine, so there’s your reason. My dad decided to follow me instead of staying with her” That was all I had to say on the matter. Aya looked disappointed, clearly expecting something more dramatic that she could spin into a story that would sell. She tapped her chin and spoke up again.

“There has to be something more then that for the two of you to pack up and leave without warning. I doubt it was a family decision considering how poorly Reimu has been taking it” She says. I see her eyes glance over to Dad and I her followed them. Dad was starting to look a bit concerned. My head snaps back to Aya. I see a small smile on her lips. Oh no, she had figured out her angle. “Oh yes, I’m sure you’ve heard that she took her anger out on the shrine and chased away some worshipers, and how she made a huge scene here in the village demanding that they tell here where you two were, but that’s not all. She’s been going around everywhere throwing around accusations , she thinks there’s some grand conspiracy behind you two leaving, and I certainly got an earful of it. I can’t even repeat the things she said about me or you in my newspaper” She suddenly took on a more serious look. “She’s not taking it well. You really ought to at least tell her where you are and why you left so she might return to normal. Things can’t continue like this”


I had suspected that my mother wouldn’t react well to us leaving, but this was beyond what I thought. I still wasn’t going back, even if she was earning up half of Gensokyo. I take a moment to think of my reply “You tell her she knows why we left, and it was our decision to do so. Tell her that the only way she’ll see us again is if she changes her ways completely and apologizes for all she’s done. We’re staying here until then”

Aya frowned, she might have been expecting more juicy details. “Well, If that’s how it’s going to be, then fine” she sighs and stands up, picking up her things “I’ll find someway of telling her all of that, but I doubt it’ll make her feel better. Until next time, goodbye” She walks out of the door.
I turn to find Dad trying to follow her and hold an arm in his way. He looks at me “You heard her, Reimu needs me. If I just talk with her, I could calm her down a bit. If I get her to understand then she’ll recover and things can improve, just let me by” His will was already wavering. If he meet up with her again, she’d sink her claws back into him, or worse. I didn’t think she’d have a happy reunion with her husband that abandoned her without warning.

“Dad” I say “You told me you wanted to spent time away from her so she could think about your marriage, correct? If she wants it to be better, then she’ll calm down on her own and seek you out to talk things out. Her acting like this means she hasn’t improved at all, and seeing her in a bad mood, well...” He looks away, realizing what might happen if he goes and sees her. “If she gets too bad, then someone will put her in line, just forget about it for now, okay?” I felt a bit ashamed, lecturing my own father about his relationship, but he needed someone to remind him how bad things were.

He muttered out an agreement and went to pick up the gift basket. Even if I had convinced him for now, I could still see how worried he was.

Syameimaru Aya.